Caught in a Web

Strobe lights danced off her features as she brought the glass to her painted lips, staring out at the crowd of people dancing while she sat comfortably at the bar. From the corner of her eye, she saw the bartender slide a second cocktail toward her with a smile, gesturing his head to the side.

“This one’s on Mr. Bigshot over there.”

Her eyes - forest green, this evening - panned over to follow the bartender’s gaze until they fell upon a man with a cocky smirk, a chizelled jaw, and an outfit that likely cost more money than an entire year of her rent.

There you are, little fly, she thought to herself as she sent the man a shy smile before lifting the cocktail to her lips. Taking it as an invitation, the man stood up from his spot on the other side of the bar and sauntered over. As the man smirked and introduced himself, she had to take a deep breath and swallow down the bile rising in her throat. Her babies watched him for a while, knowing exactly what kind of women he was into and she made sure to emulate that this evening. She flipped her long, brown hair behind her shoulder, showing off her exposed shoulders. Green eyes looked up at him through her lashes as her lips fell into a small pout. Her elbow was placed on the bar before she rest her cheek in her hand and she sighed sadly as she explained that she was stood up. A predatory flash behind the man’s eyes. He always went after wall-flowers who looked to be down. As she felt the man get caught in her trap she had to refrain from letting her glee show on her face; she was still playing the part.

There were always those who used their powers and high positions to take advantage of others. It is just how this world worked - the weak are preyed on by the strong. But she could not stand by when some of these pitiful excuses of men preyed on women for sexual gratification. There were so many instances of force, manipulation, blackmail, and other dastardly methods to get what they want. And then these poor women, broken and thrown to the side, could not get justice because it would be going against those who fought for all of society. So she took matters into her own hands.

The sooner she could finish the job the better. She spent the entire evening with this disgusting excuse of a human being grinding his growing erection against her as they “danced”. But finally, he had grabbed her by the waist, leaned in, and whispered “how about I take you home with me tonight?”

First, the test. “Oh, I don’t know... I really shouldn’t... I hardly know you...”

His eyes narrowed as his grip on her waist tightened. “Aw, come on, sweetheart. I know a great way you can get to know me.”

“I...”

“Don’t tell me you’re just a little slut who bats her pretty eyes at heroes hoping for free drinks and then doesn’t put out?” he whispered into her ear, a hint of humour in his voice despite the venom dripping from the words. “Come on. You don’t want to get a reputation do you?”

Thankfully the man couldn’t see her roll her eyes as he continued to grind against her from behind. “Um... okay...” Ugh, she hated playing the prey.

“Then let’s get out of here, babe.”

Before long, they were at his condo. A luxurious one fitting of a hero on the rise. He didn’t waste any time with forcing her out of her strapless dress before throwing her down on his ridiculously large mattress.

“I’ve been waiting all night for this,” he growled, licking his lips as he tried to shimmy her out of her panties. But she suddenly grabbed his wrist and twisted it.

Using his shock as an opening, she flipped him onto his back instead, and he suddenly found himself caged between eight legs. His eyes widened as she shape-shifted back to her true form; her lively skin fading to a cool grey, her warm, brown hair darkening to black, and her eyes changing from green to gold. The whites of her eyes turned black and he saw that she now had six eyes instead of two.

She cackled, displaying her fangs. “Oh, sweet little fly. Did you think you could go on this way forever without facing the consequences?” The hero squirmed beneath her and she laughed again. “Don’t struggle. My first dose of venom hits your ability DNA first. I can’t have my little flies use their pretty wings to fly away from me, can I?”

“Venom?”

“When I gave your neck that little love bite as we danced?” she hummed as her spider legs pulling silk from the spinneret on the small of her back. The legs expertly secured his arms and legs to his bed with the silk threads. “That was step one. Step two was securing you down. Step three... a little torture.” The gold of her irises seemed to flash as she let out a low hum rumble from her chest. The hero then felt the creepy sensation of something crawling all over him. Craning his head, he saw spiders all over his body and he let out a shrill scream.

A sinister laugh left her throat as she moved off of him to enjoy the sight. He thrashed and cried as her little babies crawled all over him, biting him on every inch of his skin. “What a cute, little scream. But do you understand the feeling of discomfort? All the women you forced into your bed with threats of bad reputations. Grinding on them, feeling up on them, making them feel guilty for not succumbing to you. I wonder if the level of fear and disgust you feel right now can even compare?”

“Please, stop...!”

She crept closer to him, grabbing his chin and lifting it to force him to look her in the eyes. “When they asked for you to stop, did you give them that courtesy? Not from what I’ve heard.” Leaning in, she licked her fangs with her blue tongue before plunging them into the defined vein on his neck. He screamed as the venom entered him; he could feel the numbness spread through his body almost instantly.

“My babies,” she cooed at the spiders that continued to crawl all over him. “Wrap him up nice and pretty for the police.”

Within seconds, she returned to the borrowed form she picked up specifically for him. Even if cameras caught her coming in and out, this face was a fake creation and they could never tie it back to her. The dress was slipped back on and she rummaged through his wallet for any cash as a bonus before she head out.

“I take it that hero will be showing up dead in the news soon, huh?” a low, scratchy voice said from behind her as she exited the building complex. Spinning around, she saw a man covered in scars. He smiled at her, flicking his cigarette to the ground as he stepped closer. “Am I right?”

“Who wants to know?” she asked with a quirked brow. It was clear this man wasn’t a hero or a police officer.

“My boss had his interest peaked by you,” he replied with a smirk, cerulean eyes flashing in the light of passing cars. He handed over a card. “We could use someone like you. This society is rotten at its core. We look to change that. I follow in Lesion’s ideals, some other members follow their own, but the truth stands: if you’re against this bullshit society where heroes literally get away with murder, you’ll find a place with us.”

Her day-to-day facade was one that most would look at and not see anything posing a threat. A cute round face with pink cheeks and freckles, warm brown eyes filled with empathy, and strawberry blonde hair, pulled into a side braid. She adjusted the round-rimmed glasses slipping down her button nose as she glanced around for the scared man from last night.

Alleyway... The whispers of the spiders in the area filled her ears, and she glanced around. Sure enough, a man sporting a black hoodie with the hood up leaned against a wall in the alleyway. Not a very helpful disguise, as the scaring on his face was a dead giveaway if you caught him at the right angle.

Walking over, she stood before him and he quirked a brow at her. “Can I help you?”

“Did you really think I could get as far as I did with the same appearance as when I go after my prey?” she asked him with a scoff. Though her face was different, that voice was unmistakable. There was this sultry undertone that didn’t suit the sweet face she had on today.

“Follow me,” he said, spinning on his heel and leading her down the alley before pushing open a door and gesturing her to step in.

“What a gentleman.” The words oozed sarcasm, still using that voice that didn’t quite suit that face.

With a roll of his eyes, he guided her down the hallway and into an abandoned warehouse, where his boss sat waiting.

While the white mask obscured his face, it was clear from the way his muscles tensed that he was confused, shocked, or possibly a combination of the two. “You’re the one who’s been taking down heroes reported on AnonHeroConfessions?”

Switching to a persona, she smiled brightly. “Aww, you’ve heard of me?” she asked in a sweet voice. “I’ve heard of you too; Shift, the leader of the underground deviants that oppose heroes. To what do I owe the honour of being summoned?”

The scarred man who escorted her in almost got whiplash from how drastically she changed from the alleyway to now.

“I don’t believe it...,” Shift said with a dumbfounded sound in his voice. “Nero, you’re sure she’s the one?”

“Well, this isn’t what she looked like last night,” the scarred man - now revealed to her as Nero - replied with a shrug. “But it’s her alright.”

Like you... Good here... Stay... The little ones residing in the warehouse all sang out to her. She hummed to herself. Trust them... Same goals... With a smile, she stripped her jacket off, revealing her open-back dress to Nero who stood behind her. “I can’t be seen killing many heroes in the same body. I research them in advance, find out what kind of woman they like, and then use that to get close.” Nero jumped back in shock as eight spider legs burst from her back. “This is my true form. Let me introduce myself; you boys can call me Renée.”

The two men gawked at her transformation. As her golden eyes glanced across the bar, they landed on a far corner and her lips slowly pulled into a grin. Sauntering over, she extended her hand and a spider descended from its web to crawl onto her finger. “Now don’t take it personally, but I don’t trust any words that come from a man’s mouth.” Renée smiled down at the little house spider. “Tell me, little one, are these boys to be trusted?” Shift and Nero exchanged confused glances before looking back to the woman.

They like your style and efficiency, the spider whispered. They want to make you their assassin. Make society crumble. Destroy heroes.

“I see,” she cooed in response before moving her hand to the wall. The spider crawled off her fingers and onto the wall before skittering off to a dark corner. “So, you want me to help you kill heroes, do you?” Smoothing down the back of her dress, she sat on one of the couches and crossed her legs, hands daintily folding on her lap. “Bold of you to assume I’d help you.” She closed her eyes and hummed as more whispers from the surrounding spiders called out to her. “You have a young girl among your ranks. And she has been treated well. Surprising. Where is the sweetheart? I prefer to discuss business with...” Renée gave a pointed glance to the two men and a forced smile pulled up at her cheeks. “Not men.”